Black Excellence: Expedition Subsahara
https://expeditionsubsahara.com/pages/the-art-of-basket-weaving
I’m Sofi, and I was born in Senegal, West Africa, to the Wolof tribe. Part of the Jolof empire that dominated the 14th -16th centuries, the Wolof became a powerful force and sought after for their trade commodities, but primarily for gold. Even today, Wolof is the primary ethnic group in Senegal.
In our tribe, weaving is passed down generationally, from grandmothers and mothers to daughters and granddaughters. Girls are taught to weave from a very young age and this skill is used throughout our lives. Not only do women create useful items for their families and to sell, but the art of basket weaving is a communal activity women enjoy in the company of others.
Black Excellence: James Kassaga Arinaitwe
https://teachforall.org/africa-leadership/james-kassaga-arinaitwe
Prior to co-founding Teach For Uganda, CEO James Kassaga Arinaitwe gained eight years of international development experience working with The Carter Center in the United States, the non-profit organization founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He was also a 2012-13 Global Health Corps Fellow in New York, and a School Partnerships Manager at Educate! In 2014, James was selected as an Acumen Global Fellow, and spent a year in India working with a social enterprise providing education and livelihood skills to two million underserved youth. James is an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, and his op-eds on ethical and effective development solutions have been featured in Al Jazeera, NPR, Devex, The Guardian, and The New York Times. He graduated with a Masters of Public Health and Policy from Florida State University and a Masters in Sustainable Development and International Policy from the SIT Graduate Institute in Washington, D.C.
Black Excellence: Jeffrey Alan Peck
https://www.webdbmf.org/jeffrey.alan.peck.html
Jeffrey Alan Peck is the great-grandson of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois. Jeffrey continues Dr. Du Bois’ legacy by engaging in socio-political discourse, working closely with non-profit organizations that are involved in racial justice, equity, and empowerment, being an active member of Bishop James Dixon’s “Community of Faith” Church, and annually commemorating Dr. Du Bois’ memory in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in February of each year. Jeffrey is a Houston native, who aspires to increase awareness and affinity for Dr. Du Bois throughout the South and within ignored black communities.
Black Excellence: Biddy Mason
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddy_Mason
Biddy Mason (August 15, 1818 – January 15, 1891) was an African-American nurse and a Californian real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist. She was one of the founders of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church[1] in Los Angeles, California. Enslaved upon birth, she developed a variety of skills and developed knowledge of medicine, child care, and livestock care. A California court granted freedom to her and her three daughters in 1856.
Black Excellence: Latorial Faison
https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/latorial_faison
LATORIAL FAISON is the author of Nursery Rhymes in Black (University of Alaska Press, June 2025), Mother to Son (2017), Amazon Kindle best-sellers, LOVE POEMS, 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History Volumes 1-3, flesh, I AM WOMAN, Secrets of My Soul, Immaculate Perceptions, children’s books, 100 Poems You Can Write and Kendall’s Golf Lesson. Faison’s work has been accepted for publication by Callaloo, AUNT CHLOE, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Artemis Journal, RHINO, Prairie Schooner, PENUMBRA, West Trestle Review, Solstice Literary Magazine, Crab Orchard Review, Stonecoast Review, Typishly Literary Magazine, About Place Journal, Typehouse, Southern Poetry Anthology, Kalyani Magazine, Black Girl Seeks, The Chattahoochee Review, Virginia’s Best Emerging Poets, Blackberry, Solstice Literary Magazine, and Mandala Journal.
Black Excellence: Tsedaye Makonnen
Tsedaye Makonnen is an interdisciplinary artist-curator and cultural producer. Tsedaye’s practice is driven by Black feminist theory, firsthand site-specific research, and ethical social practice techniques, which become solo and collaborative site sensitive performances, objects, installations, and films. Her studio primarily focuses on intersectional feminism, reproductive health and migration. Tsedaye’s personal history is as a mother, the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, a doula and a sanctuary builder.
Black Excellence: The Library Dads
https://www.thelibrarydads.org/about-us
The Library Dads launched in the summer of 2024 by our founder Khari Arnold. When his daughter was 4 months old, Khari took her to the library for the first time. It allowed him to get out of the house, boost his daughter’s language development and, most importantly, spend quality time with his baby girl. This became a fun weekly endeavor.
Over the next year, he noticed the cognitive benefits that came with reading to her each day and making weekly library trips. The results amazed him and his wife, along with their daughter’s pediatrician. What kept Khari going back wasn’t the cognitive benefits, however, but the constant bonding. He felt closer to his child and made it their thing.
That experience ultimately led to the formation of The Library Dads, a movement where dads can bond with their kids while building key literacy and developmental skills.
In the process, a brotherhood is built. Dads gain support for the fatherhood journey, make connections with others in the community and gain free valuable educational resources.
Black Excellence: Erica Nicole Clark
https://www.laughfactory.com/comedians/bio/EricaClark
Erica Nicole Clark is a chicago native who studied at the famed Improv Olympic before deciding to venture out into Stand up. Her unique upbringing and her day job make for a style all her own in comedy. She has performed at Laugh Factory, Comedy Store, the Improv and TBS Just For Laughs Festival
Erica Nicole Clark, Mr. T’s second daughter, is a stand-up comedian. Before she followed in her dad’s footsteps and entered the entertainment industry, Erica was a special education teacher, working with children with autism and Down syndrome. In 2014, she stepped away from her career to pursue comedy.
Black Excellence: Davóne Tines
https://www.afarcry.org/davone-tines
Davóne Tines, heralded as an artist “changing what it means to be a classical singer (The New Yorker) and “[one] of the most powerful voices of our time” (Los Angeles Times), is a pathbreaking artist whose work encompasses a diverse repertoire, ranging from early music to new commissions by leading composers, while exploring the social issues of today. A creator, curator, and performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, he is engaged in work that blends opera, art song, spirituals, contemporary classical, gospel, and protest songs as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance connecting to all of humanity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dav%C3%B3ne_Tines
Davóne Tines (born December 20, 1986) is an American operatic bass-baritone,[1] known for creating roles in new works and for his collaborations with director Peter Sellars.[2]